Council puts a stop to cannabis retail store applications

Jul 29, 2019 | 8:09 PM

It appears those wanting to try their hands at applying to open a cannabis retail store in the City of Vernon will have to wait — at least for now.

City council voted to prohibit any additional cannabis retail store applications until a period of time has passed in order for staff to study the impact.

According to Craig Broderick, manager of current planning, the city has 21 applications that have been submitted and 16 of those have been forwarded to the province for approval. Another five applications are on hold because of a moratorium in April that restricts downtown cannabis retail stores to six, for one year.

The idea of capping cannabis retail stores in the city was brought forward by Coun. Kari Gares who feared the city could face an oversaturation of cannabis retail stores without limitations.

“This is 21 in a population of 45,000. I’m sorry I think this is well beyond excessive. I’m all for enterprise, free markets whatever you want to call it but, guaranteed not all 21 of these are going to be as successful. And that’s not even including the seven or nine on the westside that the OKIB put up,” Gares said.

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Acting Mayor Coun. Brian Quiring agreed but reminded Gares the province will likely not approve all the applications.

Gares then asked city staff about the possibility of capping the cannabis retail stores by a per capita basis.

“I want to see every single one of these businesses be truly successful because if they are successful then we’re successful and that’s what we want. I don’t want to see any empty building because we got 21.”

CAO Will Pearce told council the province does have some guidelines as to what is appropriate for communities and their size, but recommended that council stick with the original motion of capping pot shops.

“We are not in the business of regulating cannabis dealerships recreational or otherwise, nor are we in the business of determining what could be good or bad for the community. It’s like something like trying to bring back a rationale to limit the number of distribution centres for tobacco products; we just don’t have the experience,” Pearce said.

Quiring said while he agrees the number of pot shops is becoming excessive, regulating them is a tricky line.

“They don’t cap anything else, they don’t cap liquor stores, they don’t cap, it’s a legal business,” he said.

While Coun. Kelly Fehr agreed that the city is oversaturating the market, he said that it should not be the city’s role to interfere with those wanting to try their hand at opening a business.

“I think that quite a few of the businesses will fail but I don’t really see it as our role in protecting business owners from businesses that might potentially fail,” he said.

In the end, the motion put forward by Coun. Scott Anderson was carried unanimously on Monday.

by Tiffany Goodwein

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